Romanian family names in Bereg County (Ukraine)
Keywords:
family names, Bereg county, Subcarpathia (Ukraine), etymology, Romanian family names, historical anthroponomastics, motivational types
Abstract
Romanian family names in Bereg County (Ukraine)
The historical Bereg County has always had a mixed population. Romanian people arrived in Bereg County from the neighbouring counties (i.e. from Máramaros and Ugocsa) and soon became Hungarians in their new environment. In the present survey, as today’s name bearers are all native speakers of Hungarian, the name forms observed are characteristically Hungarian. The paper discusses two groups of names: 1. family names undoubtedly of Romanian origin (e.g. Giligor < Gligor ‘Gregory’); and 2. family names presumably of Romanian origin (e.g. Iszáj < Romanian Isai or Ruthenian~Ukrainian Исаŭ; both surnames originate from Isaias).
